The Applicant's own earlier filed British patent applications 0507470.3 and 0523107.1 are concerned with drum brakes comprising a pair of brake pads, each pad being moveable generally radially outwardly into contact with a brake drum by a respective operating lever acted on at one end by a brake applying means and pivoted at the other end from a backplate, each pad being contacted by a portion of the respective operating lever intermediate the lever ends and moving radially outwardly between a pair of circumferentially spaced abutments which extend generally perpendicular to the backplate and which react braking torque when the brake is applied. Such drum brakes are referred to hereinafter as being “of the kind described”.